


ring around the lake

by sabinelagrande



Series: Desperation Song [3]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-28
Updated: 2011-09-28
Packaged: 2017-10-24 03:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/258360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabinelagrande/pseuds/sabinelagrande
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a beautiful summer day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	ring around the lake

It's a beautiful summer day, and Kurt is playing with his ball, bouncing it against the concrete wall behind the kitchen, just like Papa is always on him not to do. Kurt can't help it; it makes such a satisfying sound, and the only alternative is playing with Pietro and Wanda, who are off playing some silly baby game. And anyway, Pietro just runs off every time Kurt comes near him.

They're really no fun.

He hits the ball particularly hard, and it sails past his hands, out of reach of his tail, and right on into the access road that runs along the back side of the house. Kurt walks over to retrieve it; he looks carefully one way, and carefully the other way, checking for cars before he steps forward- but when he looks back in front of him, there's a man standing there, one Kurt has never seen before.

"Hello there," he says, in heavily accented English. He wears a neat black suit, and his skin is just as red as Kurt's is blue; as Kurt takes him in, a tail pops up over his shoulder, pointed just like Kurt's.

Kurt cocks his head. "Did Mastermind send you?"

The red man bends down, smiling. "I sent myself."

"Who are you?"

"You, my little man," he says, "may call me Otets."

"I am Kurt," he replies.

"I know," he says. When Kurt frowns, he laughs. "Now, Kurtelein," he says, in the worst mock German Kurt has ever heard, "I came to show you a trick."

Kurt's almost certain that this is Mastermind's work, something his father has set up as a training exercise; Mastermind's German is terrible. "What is it?"

The man holds up a finger. "Watch me carefully." He stands back a little, folds his arms- and all of a sudden, he's on the opposite side of the road. "Did you see?" he asks Kurt, who's staring at him slackjawed- and then he's in a nearby tree- and then he's right in front of Kurt again.

"Is that your gift?" he asks.

"No," Otets says, laughing. "It's yours." Kurt looks at him, puzzled. "Your turn."

Kurt balks. "I can't do that."

"No?" He sounds almost disappointed. "Try it for me."

Kurt thinks about it; if this is a training session, then he doesn't want to shirk, because then he can't give Papa a good report. He thinks about it as hard as he can, thinks about being across the road.

Nothing happens.

"Relax," Otets tells him. "All you have to do is move."

Kurt shuts his eyes tight, his tail curling close to him. He takes a deep breath-

-and he's right where he wanted to be, blue smoke swirling around him.

Otets claps his hands in joy. "Wonderful! Do it again, my boy!"

Kurt is excited now; with a thought, he's twenty yards away; it makes a noise when he does it, a little "bamf!" sound that he's not sure anyone else could hear.

Otets appears beside him. "And now, darling Kurt, you can have a present-" He's far enough away that he has to shout. "But only if you catch me!"

He disappears, and Kurt follows him around the grounds, laughing and shouting. It's absolutely exhilarating; now that he knows he can do it, he's amazed that he wasted all this time not doing it. But no matter what he does, he can't catch Otets; not, at least, until he figures out the pattern. It takes him a jump or two to get it right, but finally, he beats Otets to the punch, landing before he does on the top of one of the walls.

"How clever you are!" Otets says, and the present he promised turns out to be a chocolate bar, which Kurt eats greedily. "I am afraid, little Kurt, that our time is through." He bows deeply. "Until we meet again," he says, and just like that he's gone.

Kurt doesn't bother running back to the house, not when he can jump instead, crossing the distance in skips and hops. He runs inside to look for Papa; he's in his study with Astra and Mastermind, where he's not to be disturbed, but Kurt's so excited that he doesn't stop. "Did I pass?"

Papa stops mid-sentence, turning to look at him. "Kurt, what are you talking about?"

"The training," he says, switching to English for the others' benefit. "The one Mastermind was running."

Mastermind raises an eyebrow. "I've been standing here the whole time."

"But you taught me to do this," Kurt says- and he's perched on Papa's chair. Astra and Mastermind look at him like he's got three heads, which is really saying something around here, but Papa just looks distraught. "There was a man, in the road, a red man in a suit- he had a tail just like me-"

"Azazel's been here," Papa says, cutting him off.

Astra crosses her arms. "Azazel is _dead_."

"Kurt," Papa says, in the low voice that he only uses when he's angry. "I want you to listen to me very carefully. What did the man say to you?"

"He said his name was Otets," Kurt says, starting to get scared, the leftover taste of chocolate souring in his mouth. "He said I could move like him- I thought he was a projection, I promise, I never would have talked to him if I knew he wasn't."

Papa scrubs his face with one hand; he looks weary. "Would anyone like to explain to me how Azazel walked into my compound and got near my son?"

"I don't understand," Mastermind says. "The perimeter defenses are set to identify and immobilize any human or mutant-"

"And there's our problem," Papa replies. "Security will have to be overhauled. Again."

Astra presses her palm to her forehead. "Of course it will. Again."

"Papa?" Kurt says, and he's trying so hard not to cry.

Papa glances over at him, then he turns and glares at Astra and Mastermind until they take the hint and leave the room. When they're gone, Papa kneels down, putting his hands on Kurt's shoulders. "It's going to be all right."

"I thought you would be pleased," he says; the disappointment is crushing.

Papa's face softens. "Of course I am," he says. "I'm just surprised. That's all." Kurt starts to sniffle, rubbing his face on his sleeve, and Papa holds him close. "You must be careful, Kurt. There are people who want to hurt you, and I can't always be there." Papa pulls back, patting him on the head. "Now, you must show me what you can do."

Kurt's face lights up. "You want to see?"

"Naturally," Papa says. "Any day my son has a new gift is a day to be celebrated. Come, let's go to the training room."

"Bet I can beat you there!" Kurt says- and he's off.

Papa doesn't have a hope of beating him.


End file.
